


Starlite Runners

by zrostop



Category: Starlite Runners
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Other, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Battles, Space Pirates, Space Stations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2019-06-10 13:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15292296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zrostop/pseuds/zrostop
Summary: In the late 27th Century Earth had colonized it's neighboring stars and local systems under the flag of the Karp Omnia Empire. Each and Every Colony was taxed heavily for Military support, infrastructure, and transport of commodities by the Empire.The resource rich colonies thrived as they had wealthy and or powerful empire controlled corporate "sponsors" . Colonies with out valuable commodities lacked those connections and were referred to as "non-sponsored" thus found themselves at the mercy of pirates, thieves, and the various rogue elements of the Empire looking for a quick and easy credit.This is where the story begins.





	1. Roll the dice

Crystal walked out of her shop into the busy through-way of the platform.

Life aboard the commerce station K.O.E Regale 1 in Sector 11 was expensive but lucrative if you knew the right people, that or if you were extremely lucky.

Crystal was a gambler, she took risks that would make a sober woman drink, risks didn’t bother her they always seemed to pan out in her favor.

From Crystal's point of view why worry about what could go wrong when you could double the bank roll and she was as lucky as they came.

A com message from an old client asking for a face to face business meeting with a promise it would be well worth her time Crystal didn’t hesitate to set it up, and hey they were coming to her what could possibly go wrong.

Arriving at the docking bays Crystal didn’t have to search long before she spotted the familiar old mining transport rig.

Approaching the Ship trying not to be seen, Crystal spotted Ryan a formidable looking pilot trying very hard to look casual leaning on the support strut of the boarding ramp as he scanned his surrounding with a cautious eye Crystal nearly made it around the corner but he caught sight of her.

“CRYSS, let me take a look at you!” boomed Ryan a soft smile braking through the tension on his wary face.

“It has been quite a while Ryan, what brings you back to My sector?

I know you aren’t here for a personal visit and you better not be here to return any equipment, our last transaction was years ago and that equipment is way past warranty by now.” Crystal said almost accusingly.

Without waiting for an answer Crystal continued on. “Your Mining facility is all the way out in Sector 22 why would you travel all the way out here without any details on what you need, you aren’t wanted by the Empire or any of their corporate stooges are you?” Crystal asked rapid fire while sizing Ryan up her mind a whirlwind trying to piece together what could bring him all the way to her doorstep for a business deal that could have easily been done remotely.

“Hold on, love. Let me answer.

Aye, it has been a couple of years since I left the sector to help set up the facility out in the Fringe 22.

I’m here to discuss a business venture privately. I volunteered to be the one to come out here, that has nothing to do with why they sent me in the first place but I guess you can say I am partly here for a personal visit.

And no las, I am not here to pull a fast one on you, so no talk of past dealings needed. No Corporate bounties or collections are due on our or my end, so far we can expect no heat from the fuz.

There were no details shared via com due the sensitive nature of the information regarding our potential transaction. Let’s just say we don’t want to attract attention before we count all our blessings.

What was it they told me to say to ya,…ahem,

I am here because when you need top of the line gear you are the only woman who needs be seen.

That's my story and I am sticking to it, spirits willing and business aside it does my heart good to see you love.” Ryan said as he picked up his bags and retracted the ramp to his ship.

“You are very welcome here Ryan. Let’s head over to my place I’ll make you some of my famous whiskey steak and we can talk business over a couple of drinks after we eat” Crystal said with a graceful back step spin to his side offering her arm, glad to have good company she led Ryan back to her shop.

Crystal couldn’t help but vent about the cost of doing business at K.O.E.R 1 Sector 11 the entire walk back through the crowded station to her shop, dropping her guard even further explaining she was on the verge losing everything if she didn’t meet the new charges the local empire magistrate imposed to conduct business on station.

After sharing stories and catching up on the whereabouts of old crew mates and friends Crystal steered the conversation back to business.

“While I know my Steak is famous, you didn’t fly all the way here for it, not that I am complaining it is good to see you, but why are you really here?” Crystal asked with a serious stare.

Ryan was enjoying the conversation and time with Crystal he found it hard to focus on the business that brought him there.

With a sigh he resigned himself to his assigned task for the mining facility.

Ryan unlocked his carry case revealing a holographic display projector, turning it on an image of the mining facility came to life slowly rotating. 

With a motion of his hand Ryan zoomed in on the mine while changing the display from a wire like diagram to visual spectrum with false color images identifying the large deposits of rare metals reporting the size, depth, type, and amount of each deposit in a transparent graph overlay.

With another wave of his left hand, Ryan brought up the Empire Market Value of each metal and let Crystal do the math herself.

After a long pause letting the numbers sink in Ryan spoke. “As you can see we are about to all become very wealthy, and we are going to need every bit of equipment you have and more.

The catch is we need the equipment to properly extract the ore. We can pay you a quarter up front and 20% more than asking price after delivery.

Or even better you can trade the equipment for shares in the co-op….” Ryan finishing with a slight crack in his voice the hope welling up letting his desire for her slip through is ever controlled demeanor again.

“And here you are like a knight in dirty grease monkey armor.” Crystal said hands on her hips pretending she hadn’t already made her mind.

Crystal smirked as she put her hand on Ryan’s shoulder then slowly, gently searching up his neck pulled him hard into a passionate kiss.

“It's a Deal, but you have to move me and my entire shop, and since you now owe me, so so much, I expect you to do a lion’s share of this move.

I mean I have a lot of shit. When can we start? How much space do you have on your ship? We can’t fit it all in your hauler as big as it is. Do you have other haulers in wait, are they close? When could they get here? Wait where am I going to be staying when we get there?” Crystal said.

Unable to contain his grin at her excited state and admiring Crystals shapely figure not noticing that she had long since stopped speaking, that is not until she punched his arm breaking him out of his lustful daze.

“HELLLOOOOO, where am I going to be staying?” Crystal repeated.

“emmm, you’ll have a top pick of quarters to choose from. As to how much we can move and when we can start, I can have two more freighters en-route once they finish their delivery runs.

I will send out a com message to have them rendezvous here, they can be here as soon as three station cycles best guess.

I can start moving equipment as soon as you are ready Crys.” Ryan said immediately pulling out his com unit and sending out the messages arranging the meet up and move.

Seeing that Ryan was wasting no time getting straight to business Crystal moved in closer to him, just being this close to him again made her heart beat so strong it was pulsing in her ears, the ache of need broke the chains of reservation setting her in action she slapped the com unit out of his hand while grabbing his shirt forcefully unbuttoning it as she jumped on him.

“We can get all of that later, I have other ideas for us tonight.”


	2. Only for you

The smell of coffee and toasted bread slowly tugged at Crystal pulling her out of bed and beckoning her to the kitchen. 

“I haven’t had breakfast cooked for me in years.” Crystal said slowly wrapping her arms around Ryan as he poured her a cup of coffee.

Setting his coffee down Ryan leaned into her embrace, the world around him faded away as he let the warmth, smell, and feel of Crystal seep into him filling the pits of loneliness and solitude that had been his identity for so long. Closing his eyes Ryan wished he could live in this moment for eternity.

Giving into her hunger Crystal snatched up the plate in front of Ryan with one hand, and with the grace of a lightning strike snatched the coffee in the other while giggling and spinning like a whirlwind then sat down and devoured the food.

With a glance to his left and right all Ryan saw was a blur of crystal and felt a breeze of displaced air from the spot she was before. Ryan sat down at the table with Crystal, sipped his coffee and opened his holo schematic.

“what’s that?” Crystal asked with a mouth half full of food.

“This is a standard quantum beacon nothing special, but something that every ship comes equipped with.” Ryan said.

“Ok so why do you have a schematic of it open?” Crystal asked as she pulled her chair closer to Ryan and the holo.

“Long story but here goes.  
Back when I was an unsponsored pilot running corporate jobs, I got attacked by pirates almost every single run.  
The last run is what made me decide to change my line of work and start with the mining collective.  
On that last run, It was no sooner than I jumped to the destination system my threat board lit up.  
There were four medium class ships just waiting for me at my entry jump.  
They opened up with a barrage of warning shots, followed immediately by hailing me with the standard pirate threats.  
All this was almost normal on the fringes, but it was how specific they got with the manifest that caught my attention, the hand over the “Medical” cargo or we collect it from your wreckage blah blah blah.  
I realized the moment they pointed out my cargo there was no way that they would let me live.  
My corporate handler must have provided my transponder ID, my system flight jump path, and arrival schedule.  
I mean he must have, he could just claim a total loss and not only get insurance payments for the cargo, but with me taken out, well he could claim my ship too.

I had to run, and they must have chased me across three systems, without even landing a shot I might add.  
I think that must have hurt their egos or pride, that or they started to get desperate so they turned up the heat, going all in for the kill shots instead of trying to disable my engines.  
Lucky for me that's when the craziest pilot in the galaxy answered my distress call.  
You should have seen it Crys, I mean this guy jumped in so close behind one of them that their engines must have scorched the front of his ship. His maneuver worked though, they didn’t even notice him until it was too late.  
He dropped back and dusted two of them before the rest cut their losses and took off.

After the pirate trash bugged out I opened a comm channel to the pilot I owed my life to.  
I figured the least I could do is invite him to the nearest Docking bay bar and buy him a beer.  
Turns out the guy has been doing the same kind of runs for years now, but lately he's been getting more reports from all over unsponsored space, reports of heavily armed pirates and not just the local rag tag criminals.  
All the reports point out the same fact, the attacks are wide spread and aren't like a group of gangs banding together. These pirates have all been extremely well-funded, they are more like a sponsored militia, and with funding like that it can only mean one thing, Karp Omnia Involvement.

What can we as unsponsored pilots do Crys?  
We can’t just travel in convoy’s all the time.  
We gotta go where the contracts send us and right now it seems we are getting picked off one by one at an alarming rate.  
After many beers later, we started brainstorming ideas how we could travel safely without losing money on hiring corporate security or wasted fuel by traveling in packs, that’s when we came up with the idea of turning a normal quantum beacon into something much more.  
With some adjustments and work we may just be able to turn it into an instant quantum distress signal with massive range with an attached nav jump coordinates.” Ryan said finishing his story.

“Since when did you have time to study the quantum sciences?” Crystal asked.

“I haven’t.” Ryan replied with a smirk.

“I never got it to work.” Crystal said shrinking back into her chair.

“you tried to do it without help and under a corporate deadline.” Ryan said gently brushing the back of his hand across her cheek.

“It was just a concept, I came up with it on a whim.” Crystal said raising her hands in the air animatedly. 

“You can get the swarm technology to work, and the quantum linking beacon is largely based on your design already. You won’t be working on this alone, you will have a team of people to help you to make it more than a concept.” Ryan said with a widening smile.

“you are going to keep me very busy aren’t you.” Crystal said deciding to just go with it.

“It’s time that you put your genius back to good use love, so you can change the universe for the better.” Ryan said and kissed her on the forehead.

“I will do this for you, I will do this only for you. “Crystal said poking Ryan with her finger evoking a laugh hands thrown up in mock surrender from Ryan.

“You will have full rights if you want them, but we can help a lot of desperate people out there.” Ryan said.

“The universe doesn’t deserve you. That settles it, I am going to have to take ownership of you. Sorry you belong to me now.” Crystal nodded her head making up her mind.

“Be careful what you ask for, I smell funny and get dirt everywhere.” Ryan said.

“first things first, you need to help me get everything packed up and loaded onto your ships I need to get some of my staff and make a quick run to clean out my secret supply depo I stashed, no use leaving anything out this way.” Crystal said and ran out the door.

“Ashe, this is Ryan, I got the best quantum engineer in the universe on board, I am not joking, even if it is impossible she can make it happen. Her name is Crystal, she is the captain of the Starlite.  
Meet us at the collective facility in Sector 22, let them know I sent you with the code I uploaded to this comm.”  
Ryan recorded and transmitted his message to the comm ID Ashe had given him.

“We are going to save a lot of lives friend.” Ryan said aloud to himself and got to work loading equipment on grav lifts.

K.O.E.R 1 Corporate monitoring outpost 1  
“Sir, we have an outbound transmission with encrypted attachments being sent to one of the black listed IDs.” calling out one of the Karp Omnia relay employees to his supervisor.

“Flag it and keep scanning, just because you intercepted one blacklisted communication it doesn’t mean you can stop doing your job.” Said the supervisor.

With the blacklisted transmission on his terminal the supervisor decrypted and reviewed it. That is the 10th mention of that Mining facility in a very short time, he thought to himself, and now blacklisted scum is being called to go there. I had better send this up to the Local magistrate’s office he thought to himself re-coding the flag with his own ID taking credit for the find and sending it to Local Magistrate Dane Roberts III.


	3. Ambition vs will

**K.O.E.R 1 Magistrates office of Dane Roberts III**

Dane paced around his office as he reviewed the daily reports from the local monitoring stations.

Another duplicate priority report from the outpost 1 supervisor.

He must think we don’t get all original reports sent directly to us and putting his name to get the credit tsk tsk, that is what is going to be what holds him back from any advancement. Dane spoke to himself.

Now this is interesting, the ID number in the report seems to come up frequent enough but it is the sources of the transmissions, they never seem to be from the same group of associates.

This one seems to get around, the empire could use an asset that is known by all of these groups but not a member of any. He could make a very valuable asset indeed.

We need to watch this one more closely, maybe offer incentive to do what’s best for the empire.

“Lieutenant Lewis Get the following Priority 1 message to the Empire Central Investigation Services.

Keystone witness observed ID 2326274-511.

Need Observer class agent dispatched for judgement or acquisition.” Dane said.

“What is the level of discretion and what threat scale for the acquisition?” the Lieutenant asked.

“The suspect seems to be important enough to be missed by someone, but I don’t think he has large amount of resources so it does not warrant more than one level above default so assign it level 5 discretion.

The threat scale is always best decided by the agent, don’t tie their hands and they are more inclined to do a thorough job.” Dane said.

“Right away sir.” Lieutenant Lewis said submitting the report on his holo tablet.

 

**Karp Omnia Investigation Agency Services Branch**

“Sir I have a priority 1 request for an observer class agent from the Sector 11 Magistrate’s office.” Said the Central branch Clerk.

“Does he have authorization or authority tokens to request such an asset?” Said Central branch Chief Officer Roger Ellison.

“Sir the report alone has enough hits to warrant an observer, and Magistrate Roberts the 3rd also has more than enough authority tokens to request an observer class agent or even two. He must be very well sponsored.” Said the Clerk

“Make no mistake, Dane while no doubt is adequately sponsored, his credits are well earned.

You don’t get that many credits or tokens without bringing honor and glory to the empire.

Instruct the Observer assigned that they are authorized and the mission is a go.” Said B.C.O Ellison.

 

**Investigation Agency Service recruit barracks**

Chis Birger was the fifth generation of his family to join the Empire Investigation Services Branch.

He was top recruit in his class, but determined to earn his own way and not be handed a promotion or title due to his surname alone.

The I.S. recruit program consisted of a boot camp followed by a series of tests to “qualify” you into one of four class specializations. Each classification had specific skill set requirements.

Protector class focused on physical security and Empire Installation or Outpost management.

This was often chosen by agents who wanted a more stationary duty post.

Enforcement class was your standard policing and crisis management force.

The Enforcement division was much like the Protector division however they would rotate duty stations to curb any complacency often seen in a stationary force.

Seeker class had the task of acting on information the Empire Directorate assigned them.

The seeker would be deployed in teams based on the need of assignment and were always deployed under the direction of one Observer.

The Observer class is essentially a leadership position historically only given to agents who have a long list of accommodations and success on their record in each of the above divisions.

As an observer you had access to any and all empire assets.

The Observer title was not something to be taken lightly however, for any perceived abuse or waste of Empire asset no matter how small carried a penalty of life imprisonment or death.

Driven to prove he had some competency to go with his family name Chris qualified for every specialization role and dedicated all his time to master each one.

He wasn’t surprised that he made active agent status but to be assigned as an observer right out of cadet school, that kind of promotion on your first mission was unheard of even for someone with a name of Birger.

“Sir thank you for your confidence in my abilities, however I do not think I am qualified for an observer class mission yet.” Chris said.

“There are some very important missions taking place right now, while I would not think of putting someone as green as you on this mission I have no choice Observer Birger. Get it done, end of conversation.” Said the Agent Commander.

With no room for debate Chris sat down in his office and began reviewing the reports and dossier on all known contacts that had come into contact with Captain of ID 2326274-511.

“Seeker first class Lane reporting for assignment, what are your orders” with a glance in the Observer’s direction Lane paused in shock at the site of what looked like a cadet before him, quickly recovering he continued. “Observer Sir!”

“At ease Seeker Lane.

 I need you to deploy your team to Section 22. We have an asset to recover. I want you to make contact with this asset, you are only to relay a message that I need to speak with him, make no forceful attempt to recover him, at least not yet.

I think this asset could be key to winning back a lot of hearts and minds for the empire.” Chis said.

“Sir, all due respect, if his ID warrants the attention of seekers he is most certainly dangerous, and the reports clearly state he associates with known enemies of the empire. He deserves no more consideration other than what type of missile I should use to ram down his throat.” Seeker Lane said slamming his fist on the desk.

“Seeker, let me make myself clear, I will strip you of your Seeker title and make you an enemy of the empire if my instructions are not followed understood?” Chis said.

“Understood Observer.” Lane said turning to leave the room not waiting to be dismissed.

 Chris let Seeker lane’s slight go, this is going to be an uphill battle, I have to earn their respect, and loyalty will come later with the success of the mission.

“So Ashe huh, let’s find out what kind of trouble are you stirring up to get the attention, or wrath of the Empire.” Chis said aloud and he reviewed the files.

 

**Seeker Staging area Central HQ**

“Who does this prick think he is” Seeker Lane said pacing the staging area throwing his gear at the wall.

“I am not going to let this paper Observer get my team killed with his stupid idealist play nice diplomacy bullshit.” Lane finished his rant but continued pacing fervently.

An idea forming,Seeker Lane sat down at the long-range com station.

“Dispatch, patch a live com into the sector 15’s Local magistrate office, I need to speak with the on duty hub officer.

Connected.

“Sector 15 Monitoring hub this is the on-duty officer, how may I help you?” said the officer.

“I need you to make arrangements for a squadron of no less than ten gunships to be on standby.

They need to be ready to deploy on my command. Tie the authorization token to Observer Chis Birger.” Seeker Lane said.

 “Seeker, policy states that only the observer can request the acquisition of these assets, I“ The on duty officer said as if he was reading a policy manual.

“That is why I asked you to put them on standby.

Look I know it is irregular for a Seeker to request such things, you can look up Observer Birger’s enlistment start of service date, he is new, he ordered me to do this.

I need this done or he will and I quote strip my seeker title and make me an enemy of the empire.

Please cut the New Observer some slack and have mercy on me.” Lane said.

“Roger that seeker, I see the Service activation date for Birger is today, this new observer must be overwhelmed and taking it out on you.

I have ordered 10 gunships to be on standby.

Have your observer give the go code when you need the Gunships deployed. Good luck Seeker” said the Sector 15 officer.

“Just trying to bring glory to the empire. Thanks Officer you are a life saver, Seeker Lane out.” Ending the long-range communication bridge  Lane grinned.

Now that the pieces are on the board, it's time to assemble the team and get my cyber specialist to intercept some go codes.

Redirecting the comm station to central command dispatch he opened another channel.

“Seeker Lane to command, please have my team meet me in the staging area, we need to discuss our current mission and prep for immediate launch.” Lane said.

“Dispatch acknowledges, Seeker team priority orders have been broadcast to your team and they should arrive within 1 hour.” Said the dispatcher.

“We are going to take out the trash AND get rid of this paper Observer.” Seeker Lane said crossing his arms as a smug smile spread across his face.


	4. Unpleasant business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brynn doesn't have it easy, she is doing what she has to do to get by, dreaming of the day she can leave it all behind, but drinking enough to forget each day's past.  
> maybe a chance meeting will bring that day to her, or push her over the edge of oblivion.  
> One things for certain, it sucks to be the pawn on the chess board.

Starlite Runners  
Chapter 4  
Sector 14 Planet Koch capitol city outer reach slums.

Pale, so, so pale. Brynn thought to herself looking at the face staring back at her in the reflection, it was a face she barely recognized.  
A new Anonymous Message chimed and scrolled across her comm “Your presence is required, you know the place, get here NOW! -E”  
Better get ready. Brynn thought while walking around her apartment which caused the lights to flicker dim with every movement, a tale of frayed wiring and circuitry used a hundred years past its half-life.  
Brynn hid her bruises and the lack of color in her skin, putting makeup on in the dark while getting dressed. “Just a little war paint and I’m good as new.” She thought aloud preparing for another day in the slums of Koch.  
jogging the length of the hallway in front of her apartment, making sure she was not being watched she pried up some loose floor boards and hid her most treasured possessions: A holo of her mom, A credit stick, and the only thing she had left of her father, a metal flask still filled with the celebration whiskey filled at the news he was going to be a father. That was the story her mother had told her, he never returned from that night, Brynn questioned why she kept it, but kept it safe with the rest of her treasures.  
Leaving the apartment building at almost a run, she still shuttered every time she passed the crude logo of the Jacks, which was prominently displayed on the front entrance of the building.  
Brynn longed for the day she would cut her strings and exit this stage, but for now she was the puppet and the small but connected gang was pulling her strings. Brynn daydreamed of freedom the entire way to the meeting place, once she arrived she was jolted back into the here and now, taking a deep breath she opened the door.  
“Brynn get over here!” Ethan bellowed across the bar at the sight of her.  
Once she was within reach Ethan grabbed Brynn by the hips, forcefully pulling her down into his lap not giving her a choice of sitting anywhere else.  
“We were just talking about the next score.  
Our Informant at the Corp Port Authority tells us a wealthy pilot is scheduled to arrive at the Dock 247 East City Star Port. The mark is not sponsored, and doesn't seem to be connected to anyone of importance.  
So if he disappears, no one will care.  
He didn’t report any cargo to the Port Authority Agents, that means he is likely coming here to pick up commodities.  
No one comes to the East City Star Port looking to make a safe corporate transaction, so he is likely here to do business under the table. We need to set up shop like we are selling (Ethan paused waving his hands in circular motions) whatever it is he is looking for.” Ethan said looking directly at Brynn first then giving a quick glance at the rest sitting at the table.  
“Brynn, you will need to find out what this mark is looking for. Use your charm, seduce him, I don’t care how you get the information just get it then bring him to us.” Ethan said as he slapped her on her ass.  
She was use to Ethan and his abuse, putting up with the occasional grope or slap, it usually kept the rest of the wannabe syndicate clowns hand off her she put up with it.  
“What’s in it for me, huh? Putting this fine ass on the hook, I deserve some extra cut. I mean this guy could be a real freak.” Brynn spoke up knowing that she had to barter to at least get a fair cut, and doing it in front of the crew while they were all drooling over her back side made them less likely to argue with her about it.  
“fair enough Brynn, fair enough. You get 20% of the cut.” Ethan said but quickly added “Any additional resources, or any help you may need, now that will be made available to you, let's say %5 for each request taken out of your share. See boys I’m a true gentleman.” Ethan said as the table erupted in laughter, knowing they were going to clean her out of her any share she would get.  
This is my life, and it sucks Brynn thought as she grabbed the bottle of Whiskey, discarded the glass and started to swig straight from the bottle. The table had gone from laughter to cheering her on.

Dock 247 East City Star Port  
“Docking complete, shutting down non-vital systems and activating the security monitors.” The ship computer announced.  
Ashe hung his head as he thought of his fallen friend. Another good pilot lost on a delivery, wreckage identified at jump point, another pirate raid.  
This has got to stop, I have made too many of these trips this year alone. “Why can’t they leave us alone, instead of leaving us all lonely” Ashe spoke aloud.  
Running his hand down the scorched marked hull of his ship, Ashe steeled himself to deliver the news of the fate of his mentor to the family, to his mentor's son which he hadn’t seen in over 10 years. Delivering news that a Son is now an orphan.  
A group of friends and associates put together a small fund for Aaron’s family, trusting Ashe to deliver the credit chip as a small token to soften the blow of the news.  
Walking through the slums to Kenneth’s apartment. Ashe cautiously scanned each street looking for any potential threat, he had a feeling of being watched but all he saw was piles of trash accumulating at every corner, dirt that seemed to stain everything shades of brown and green. All reminders of his past and why he had become a pilot in the first place.  
Rounding the corner Ashe saw a couple of restaurants, the closest with a neon lit sign blinking Bobs finest Authentic Style BBQ, some of the letters flickering off. The smell of rot from the streets might have made Ashe lose his appetite, if he hadn’t forgotten to eat two days straight. The growl of his belly overruling any sense of smell He started towards the BBQ restaurant.  
“Authentic, yeah right.” Ashe said shaking his head giving in to his hunger.

Brynn had been following the mark from the star docks careful not to follow too close. This mark was not going to be easy, he's smart and extremely cautious, There is no way I am going to be able to sneak up on him, hell he nearly caught me following him at least four times already.  
Chancing another glance around the building, Brynn saw the mark going in to Bob’s BBQ. Now’s my chance to find out what this mark is after time to put on the charm.

Ashe scanned the parameter of the dimly lit restaurant, looking for a secluded table against the wall that would sit him facing the entrance. After a minute he found a table in the back just beyond the bar and he sat down.  
The acoustics of the restaurant seemed to amplify the conversations from what little patrons were there, making it seem slightly louder than Ashe expected and muting the sound of the front door opening. Ashe nearly jumped out of his seat at the noise of the door slamming closed, Looking at the door Ashe saw a young woman dressed in the latest trendy style clothing and makeup, she looked almost panicked for a split second, then straightened herself up recovering quickly. it was the complete 180 in her entire demeanor that kept Ashe’s attention and he realized he was staring. Right before his eyes caught up to his thoughts she turned, looked directly at him, smiled and gave a slight wave. Ashe now fully embarrassed gave a forced smile. Caught off guard and blushing at the sight of a young but very pretty girl waving at him, I really have lost my touch Ashe thought to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
When Ashe opened his eyes again he saw that the girl was sitting down at his table with hand extended “Names Brynn, What’s your name?” she asked  
“I’m sorry for staring earlier ma’am. I just was lost in thought and before I knew it I was staring at you…” Ashe fumbled with his excuse.  
With a laugh Brynn grabbed Ashes hand and gave it a firm but feminine shake. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. lost in thought. I was having a pretty terrible day up till now, I walked in to Bob’s to get some food on the way home expecting to get the same old crappy BBQ and, it’s just that you staring at me like that made my day. I wanted to thank you for making me feel pretty.” Byrnn said as she twirled her hair.  
Still blushing and now at a loss for words at Brynn’s statement, A smile began to spread on his face, I may be caught up in the moment, but some company would be nice for a change Ashe thought, relaxing and just about to let his guard down leaned back into his chair. Out of the corner of his eye, Ashe could barely make out several large silhouettes approaching the table. The entire restaurant went quite except for the sounds of heavy boots stomping in his direction.  
Not willing to chance getting caught with his pants down any further, Ashe drew his pistol and flipped the table in the air, sending the table, silverware, and candles flying all in the direction of the stampeding men.  
The table concealed Ashe long enough to make a decision, a choice: was Brynn a part of this, THE cause of this, or maybe just an Innocent bystander.  
Looking at Brynn, Ashe noticed she didn't look the least bit scared, no she was mesmerized by the table not scared then she gave him with a look of awe.  
His mind was made, Ashe saluted Brynn, hopped over the bar in a race for the back door.  
With only the bar between him and the Increasing number of assailants, Ashe plowed through the bartender (the only thing standing between him and the exit).  
Ashe knew he would make it out the door before his pursuer’s, so he looked over his shoulder, he saw one of the attackers had pinned Brynn up against the wall and was menacingly whispering something in her ear.  
Taking a running leap, pushing himself away from the bar Ashe reversed into a 180-degree turn flinging a bottle into the head of one, using his momentum to kick a bar stool into the other opponent dropping both leaving one left to deal with.  
Staring down the man who had a hold of Brynn by the arm.  
“Is that anyway to treat a lady?” Ashe motioning with his pistol to put his hands up, daring the thug to do anything else.  
The burly man let Brynn go with a push and slowly putt his hands up.  
“you’re makin a big mistake fancy man”  
The man spat as he spoke to Ashe but kept his eyes on Brynn.  
In a rage Brynn let out a battle cry as she slammed a chair across the man’s face, following that up with kicks and haymakers knocking the man to one knee.  
Ashe standing several paces away caught the glint of metal slowly being drawn from the man’s boot.  
With a leap forward Ashe was able to yank Brynn back barely out of reach of the thrusting knife, but momentum sent Ashe sprawling forward on the floor pistol sliding backwards out of his reach.  
The Front doors opened and all the members of the Jacks from the meeting earlier minus Ethan strode in.  
“This is not how we welcome potential customers boys.” Proclaimed the lead jack  
“Put a hurting on some of our boys, that wasn’t very nice, was it?” said another as they surrounded Ashe.  
“Got a spiffy security system on your ship too, fried bobby up nice and crispy like, you're going to have to pay for that.”  
“WAIT.” yelled The Burly man with the knife, as he got up and walked over to Ashe. With a wicked grin the Jack knelt, put is arm on Ashes shoulder and thrust his knife into Ashe's stomach, “since you are so keen on taking the blade for the tart.” the jack gave another two quick stabs.  
“AND YOU” Standing up he motioned with the bloody knife to Brynn, who was sitting frozen on the floor. “I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU, I am going to get that 20% out of you one way or another. He's all yours boys.” 

Brynn slowly crawled on the floor toward the pistol trying to remain as small and unnoticed as possible, wincing with every kick and bash to the stranger.  
Purpose stirring with every thought.  
A stranger that could have gotten away, could have got away clean.  
He saw her, he saw her pinned and wouldn’t stand for that. The stranger who wouldn’t let that happen to her.  
Brynn knew the Jacks were going to kill the man, they were going to cause as much damage as possible then kill him.  
Brynn reached the pistol, aimed and fired, and fired, and fired, and fired.  
Smell of gunfire and blood filled the room, Brynn pocketed the pistol and ran over to the stranger helping him get bandaged up.

“Can you walk?” Brynn asked putting the stranger’s arm around her shoulder.  
“don’t know, but lets ah give it a try” Ashe groaned in pain.  
“ I need to get you someplace safe. Will you trust me?” Brynn asked  
“what choice do I have right now?” Ashe said with a little edge in his voice, having to lean more into her to avoid losing consciousness.  
“sorry, I, I 'm sorry” Brynn said with a tinge of sadness at his remark.  
“Ok Brynn, lead the way. I don’t know how much longer I'll be able to move” Ashe said weakly, his strength fading fast.  
“This has been a real crap day do you know that?” Brynn said and hefted Ashe up to carry more of his weight, walking him out the back door into the alley where one of the fallen Jack’s ATVs was parked.  
Taking off full speed Brynn headed to the only place she could think of, to the neighborhood she grew up in. Flying recklessly down sidewalks and streets alike to a friend she had not spoken to in 10 years. She ran to a friend she hoped had followed through with his ambitions as a doctor.  
“I’m tired of feeling alone, I am tired of feeling helpless, and I am tired of watching bad things happen to good people.” Brynn yelled, tears streaming from her eyes.  
“ I wont stand for that, I will not let you die.”


	5. Karma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy's law  
> Anything that can happen will happen.

Starlite Runners  
Chapter 5  
Sector 14 Planet Koch capitol city outer reach slums Bob’s BBQ.  
Ethan entered the back door of the restaurant and surveyed the shattered glass, broken chairs, and overturned tables tracking the wreckage that littered Bob’s BBQ leading him to the back corner and the dead Jacks.  
“What happened?” Ethan said to the remaining Jacks.  
“Brynn, she turned on us.” Said the Jack who was hunched over one of the bodies.  
Ethan sprang on him grabbing him up by his shirt and slammed him into the wall.  
“Let me get this straight cause I don’t think I’m clear on what you are trying to tell me.  
Brynn who was casing our mark as instructed, at the sight of her fellow associates decides to kick yours and Carl’s asses, then proceeded to fill Roger, Steve and Niles full of holes just for the hell of it ay?” Ethan said through gritted teeth less than an inch from the jack’s face.  
“Not by herself the mark, he helped her.” The Jack squirmed against the wall face turned to the side to put as much distance as he could from Ethan.  
“I am only going to ask you this one time, so your answer better be satisfactory. Why?  
After a short pause Ethan let go of his underling and looked around the wreckage.  
“I don’t kno…”. The Jack began but was cut off by Ethan.  
“I’ll tell you why Brynn would turn her back on the biggest score she has ever had the privilege to be a part of, it’s simple really. The mark offered her a bigger cut that’s why.”  
“Now tell me where did they go?”  
“She took Niles’s ATV, we tracked it about 45 kilometers to one of the residential sectors where it stopped.” Said the jack looking at the tracker location display on his tablet.  
“Well then Comm Bobby at the port and have him bring a transport around to gather the rest of the troops.” Ethan looked expectantly at the other jacks.  
“Can’t boss, Bobby got fried proper by the mark’s security system.” The Jacks both flinched after reporting the news of Bobbies demise.  
Surprise flashed in Ethan’s eyes then he calmly replied as if lost in thought.  
“Is that right.”  
“Comm EVERYONE then, we can’t afford to let this slight stand. Time to teach this mark what happens when you take what rightfully belongs to the Jacks.”  
Ethan said putting on a big production in front of his underlings to fire them up.  
Internally Ethan’s mind was racing. We are already behind on our “dues” to the Syndicate; this score was supposed to put us in the green.  
Ethan calculated his chances to completely disappear, how much time he would have to escape before the syndicate dispatched an agent to perform one of their audits.  
Maybe the Syndicate would allow him to live if he contacted them first to show his loyalty and transparency Ethan mused.  
Ethan knew exactly what the Syndicate would do and stopped trying to fool himself into a false sense of security.  
No, the syndicate would immediately dissolve the Jacks literally in acid vats or some other equally horrible fate, that was all that waited for those that failed to pay the syndicate dues on time.

Sector 14 Planet Koch residential zone Building 101B 3am.  
Jason awoke to the sounds of a skidding tires followed by crash and then urgent banging on his front door.  
Glancing over at the clock which read 3:00am “Maybe they registered this address with the Triage center when I enrolled in the Medical intern program, they must have.” Jason muttered as he grabbed his glasses and rushed down the stairs to the front door.

Jason reached for the access control panel on the front door. With a touch the door became transparent on Jason’s side revealing the other side;  
A panicked woman hands covered in blood pounding on the door pleading Please, please help us. He’s dying.  
Brynn ran back to an ATV that was parked halfway through the porch.  
Glancing through the transparent door Jason focused on the ATV, he could now see the girl was struggling to pull a wounded man off the vehicle but not able to lift the dead weight.  
At the site of the wounded man Jason leapt into action immediately rushing through the door.  
Jason grabbed the man and instructed the woman on how to move a wounded patient then began firing questions.  
“What happened, did you hit this man with your ATV?”  
“No.” Brynn answered.  
“I need to know what happened so I know how to help the patient.” Jason insisted as he checked for sign of life and vitals.  
“He was protecting me.” Brynn answered defensively.  
Jason realized the woman was half in shock so he stopped asking her questions and began routine medical diagnostics.  
Removing the man’s Jacket and tearing the shirt open and quickly checking the wounds under the dressing Brynn had applied Jason started listing the afflictions aloud.  
“Multiple puncture wounds to the stomach, slight hemorrhaging, how long ago did this happen and when was this bandage applied?” Jason asked not taking his eyes off his new patient.  
“I put the ripped shirt and adhesive tape on it a couple of minutes after it happened, but we have been driving for ever to get here, we came from the Capital outskirts. Please help him Jason.” Brynn pleaded.  
“I am doing what I can.  
You gave him a fighting chance by putting the bandages on so quickly that may have saved his life, but we need to get him inside quickly. I’ll need your help to get him on the Gurney.” Jason said has he brought out a Gurney from inside the house.  
Leading Brynn and Ashe into the house, Jason focused on treating a patient and not the odd situation he was in, this was just a challenge or a test that he needed to pass.  
“While I get him scanned for compatible plasma help me hook him up to the nanite saline IVs.”  
“What’s next?” Brynn asked as she finished hooking up all the monitors and IVs.  
“Nothing else we can do, just wait and see how he responds to the nanites.” Jason responded looking at all the monitors.  
“The adhesives will keep the wound from reopening and we have about six hours before the nanites repair the internal damage, so we wait.  
Satisfied he had done all he could for the patient Jason almost began to relax, until he realized the potential danger he was in.  
I need you to tell me who you two are, how you know my name, got my address, and most of all why you risked this man’s life bringing him here instead of nearest hospital?”  
Jason asked studying Brynn closely waiting for answers.  
Noticing Jason’s posture had stiffened, Brynn took a deep breath preparing to come clean.  
“It was the Jacks, they wanted to rob him, and I, I was one of them.” Brynn Confessed.  
“This man, he saved my life, he didn’t even know me, he took a chance on me, stopped them from hurting me and he got stabbed for it.” Brynn said in sobs unable to look Jason in the eye.  
“I didn’t go to the hospital because the Jacks would find us there, I came here because I remembered how you used to always say you were going to be a doctor and” Jason walked over to Brynn while she was talking, lifted her chin.  
“Brynn?” Jason asked looking into her tear glistening eyes.  
“Hi Jason.” Brynn smiled and wiped her tears with one hand.  
Jason stared at Brynn trying to process everything that was happening.  
“How long has it been?” Jason finally broke the silence.  
“About 10 years give or take some.” Brynn answered.  
“And now you are here, I am going make us some caff go ahead and make yourself at home.” Jason said smiling still tyring to process the last hour.

Ashe opened his eyes finding himself in a small room with a bunch of monitoring equipment hooked up to him. Sitting up too quickly caused a sharp pain followed by a burning itch in his stomach a reminder of the knife wounds from the night before.  
The sound of laughter from the next room made him jump causing him to wince and groan with pain.  
Sitting up a second time, Ashe was able to get up and look around. Next to the gurney on a chair he found his jacket folded up with his pistol on top.  
Seeing that he was not restrained, disarmed, and not guarded Ashe began to relax a bit.  
“Seems the girl came though after all, well time to thank my benefactors.” Ashe thought aloud  
Walking through the door Ashe saw Brynn and a young man on a couch drinking caff both with dark circles around their eyes but awake enough.  
“Hello.” Ashe announcing his presence as he entered the room.  
“Oh good the nanites were still active, I was afraid they might not have worked being e a year past their end of life date.” Jason said as he stood up.  
“Thank you for everything, I’m afraid I don’t remember how I got here.” Ashe said looking to Brynn.  
“This is Jason, he took care of you last night.” Brynn explained.  
“I can’t thank you enough really.” Ashe replied walking over to Jason to shake his hand.  
“How did we get here again?  
Sorry my memory of last night is still a little fuzzy.” Ashe asked looking at both of them.  
“I took one of the ATVs and drove here, we are in the Residential sector ah 14 I think.” Brynn said.  
“The ATV wasn’t yours?” Ashe asked eyes growing wide.  
“No it was one of the Jacks that attacked us.” Brynn stated in confusion at Ashes reaction.  
“Where is the ATV now?” Ashe asked walking towards the nearest window.  
“I left it out front, why?” Brynn asked still not understanding what had spooked Ashe.  
Peering out the window Ashe saw the path of destruction the ATV made though the yard ending at the porch near the entrance.  
“I am afraid we’ve put you in a lot of danger Jason.”  
Ashe said muttering curses under his breath  
“What?” Jason said.  
“Why, the ATV’s owner won’t be looking for it, least not in this lifetime.” Brynn said with a slight bit of satisfaction.  
“Most ATVs have trackers, would there be anyone else who might go looking for it’s pervious owner?” Ashe asked.  
“Oh Shit.” Brynn said raising her hand to her mouth, looking apologetically at Jason.  
“Encryption enable, message to The Local broadcast designation unsponsored network.” Encryption enabled, transmitting, chimed Ashes comm. “Anyone, this is the pilot of the Catalyst five one one, got a problem and need transportation pick up for three. We are in Sector 14 101B, Local syndicate affiliates likely inbound It is approximately noon local time. I’m activating the local beacon on the ship and will keep my comm active to the Catalyst so you can track the signal from the ship to my comm via nav computer.  
Please hit my comm back with an ETA as soon as you get this.  
Will run escort for your next convoy in exchange for this service, end message.” Set on broadcast repeat until response acknowledged.” Ashe’s comm chimed an affirmative. Looking at the others in the room all wearing a look of shock.  
“I’m getting out of here, I suggest you both do the same. Brynn, Jason, you both saved my life, you are welcome on my ship, but I am leaving as soon as transport arrives, I suggest you get everything you can carry now cause I think our friends are going to be coming sooner than later.” Ashe said. As if on que an amplified voice from outside boomed.  
“Oi, You have one minute to turn over the happy couple or we may have to forget our manners.”  
“60.” Ethan began to count as the rest of the Jacks moved to surround the building.  
“What are we going to do, all I have is a short-range stunner. There are so many of them.” Jason said eyes filled fear.  
“59” Ethan continued.  
“Jason, even we gave up they would still kill you, no witnesses, it is the Jacks policy.” Brynn said.  
“Look, we just need to hold out for as long as we can.” Ashe said flatly putting his hands on each of their shoulders.  
“I’ll cover the front door from here.” Brynn said as she moved to a window to the right above the entrance.  
“58” Ethan directed his jacks to circle around to the back of the building.  
“What can I do to help?” Jason steeled himself coming to terms with the situation.  
“57” Ethan counted.  
“Anyone who gets past us into the house will have to be your problem, just make sure they don’t get upstairs if they do, we are all dead, think you can handle that?” Ashe asked putting one arm close to his still healing wounds the other hand clasping Jason’s arm in solidarity.  
“56” Ethan counted.  
“I am so sorry we dragged you into this.” Brynn said to Jason over her shoulder as he passed her to barricade the stairs.  
“55” Ethan counted  
Ashe looked out the window and made note of the Jacks positions then glanced at his wrist comm hoping to see a blinking indication of new message that wasn’t there.  
“Damn it” Ashe cursed.  
“54” Ethan counted.  
“They’re coming to the front door!” Brynn yelled.  
“53” Ethan counted.  
“hold your fire till you have a clear shot remember just concentrate your fire on anyone approaching the entrance.” Ashe said  
“52” Ethan counted.  
“I’ll try to stall him.” Brynn said to Ashe and yelled out the window.  
“Ethan, I didn’t want this. Niles ruined everything by trying to take the mark before I could even find out where the score was. He doesn’t have any credits and is just here to visit old friends.” Brynn explained.

“Yeah right, what did he promise you Brynn, what a position on his crew, what kind of cut he promise you? You can’t trust these fringe pilots they’ll airlock you day one, I thought you were smarter than that.”  
“51” Ethan continued.

“Ethan your Big score amounts to nothing, it is not too late to cut your losses, no good can come from this, just go.” Brynn pleaded.  
Ethan took a moment to think about what Brynn had said. It made sense, it was very like Niles to strong arm the mark and try and take Brynn’s cut, and he practically begged him to do just that, with the percentage of a cut for assistance statement at the bar.  
None of the statements mattered anyway at this point, Ethan was already all in, he had no choice but to see this through.  
“Brynn, this is your last chance.  
Walk the mark out here and the 20% can still be yours.” Ethan said as he motioned to the Jacks to move in.  
“Here they come.” Brynn yelled and took aim on the first Jack to reach the porch.

“What happened to the 40 seconds?” Jason quipped.

Ashe looked at his comm again and saw the blinking indicator of a new message, daring to hope he opened it.  
“Catalyst511, Aurora 1 enroute to your position, we’ve had a run in with some of the local trash so I’m happy to help ruin their day. ETA 10 minutes Aurora 1 out.” End message broadcast repeat canceled Ashes Comm announced.  
“Do we have access to your roof from here?” Ashe asked Jason.  
“I, what, I, I don’t know.” Jason responded staring at the stairs concentrating on the task assigned to him.  
Looking for an attic or access panel on the ceiling Ashe walked from room to room finding one just behind the makeshift barricade in the hallway.  
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.  
Shots rang out from Brynn’s pistol dropping the Jack at the entrance and causing a Jack near a window to jump back to cover.

“That wasn’t very nice now was it. Open fire.” Ethan boomed through his bullhorn.  
Brynn jumped back from the window curling up in a ball and covering her face from the wood splinters and glass spraying down as a volley of bullets passed through the space she had just occupied.  
“What I wouldn’t give for a grav grenade right now” Ashe spoke aloud as he pulled down the fold out stairs to the attic.  
“Get to the roof and we’ll hold up until transport arrives, hopefully they don’t turn around at the site of this.” Ashe regretting the honest assessment seeing Jason nearly have a panic attack and Brynn losing hope by the second.  
The Jacks fired into residence 101B for three sustained minutes, nearly depleting all their ammunition and weapon batteries.  
Ethan gave the cease fire signal and confidently walked into the building.  
Following Ethan’s lead the Jacks rushed into the building.  
“Search every room.” Ethan stated. And stood at the entrance looking around the bullet riddled residence to get a feel for who might live there before proceeding further into the building.  
“Looks like they barricaded the stairs, we are clearing out the obstruction now.” Reported Ethan’s Second in command.  
“Excellent, loot the building then bring me my prize.” Ethan responded lighting a cigar and sitting down at a table on the main floor.

Sector 14 Planet Koch residential zone Aboard the Aurora 1 approaching Building 101B

“Captain, that pickup request is under heavy fire right now, you sure this pilot is worth it, how you want to play this?” Frank said.  
“I see what you mean, but these lowlife syndicate scumbags need a bit of karma payback.  
Besides remember when we got our asses saved in the fringes by some random pilot? No we have to pay it forward.” Ben said to his crew.  
“Roger that Ben.” Both Alanzo and Frank said in agreement.  
“Manning the Guns.” Alanzo reported.  
“I got something special for these clowns. Tell the contact to hold their breaths.” Frank reported.  
“Catalyst511, this is Aurora 1 we are entering the field, as I am sure you are aware you have multiple hostiles already on your position. I am going to need you to hold your fire and …um hold your breath.” Ben comm’d in the clear to the Catalyst relay.  
“What the hell does Hold their breath mean Chief?” Ben asked calling Frank by his callsign when in combat.  
“Hover right here, aaand perfect. I picked up some chemicals from our last job they were easy to aerosolize. It’s Nap time for our lovely syndicate friends.” Frank said.  
“Rescue transport is here, instructions are to hold our fire, …and hold our breath.” Ashe repeated to Jason and Brynn.  
“What the hell does that mean?” Brynn asked.  
“No clue.” Ashe shrugged.  
THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, THUNK, HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.  
“GASS!” Jason yelled and covered his mouth with his hands.  
Ashe thinking there is no way they would be able to hold their breath that long sent a final message to the Aurora 1 giving their location.

“Aurora 1, This is Ashe, Jason, and Brynn we are hulled up in the attic, Don’t think we are going to be able to avoid the gass. Thanks for the rescue.” The message sent chimed on his comm then darkness took him.


	6. Set in motion

Starlite Runners  
Chapter 6  
Sector 11 debris field just beyond K.O.E Regale Station.  
Crystal shut down all the non-critical systems, putting the Starlite in stealth mode while waiting for the system traffic to depart the jump lanes.  
Once all traffic was out of scan range, she activated the key device which would turn on the beacon in her hidden cargo pod.  
While waiting for the beacon to start broadcasting, Crystal worked on enhancements to her ship swarm project.  
With this software upgrade, convoys could link every system on each ship so they would act as one. Quantum science and engineering, that’s simple, how to handle the priority of command and control without each ship’s captain tripping over each other ugh, it is always the human element that has to be so complicated.  
I’ve got to make a system smart enough to know WHEN to give what’s needed instead of what is asked for, because they are often not the same thing.  
Crystal thought as she worked on the swarm project.  
The warm glow of a flashing red indicator broke her out of her thoughts.  
Blink, blink, blink.  
“Oh, wonder how long that has been transmitting now.” Crystal said aloud biting her lip.  
Looking at the clock she counted the hours since she activated the beacon, 16 hours had passed.  
Well at least I made some strides in the swarm link software. That should free up some time to work on the quantum beacon broadcast system when we get to the mining station.  
Crystal spoke aloud as she backed the Starlite up to the cargo pod.  
With a vibrating thunk the docking clamp seal indicator turned green and Crystal was on her way to meet the collective 22 Convoy escorts.

Outer Edge of Sector 11, Collective 22 Convoy rendezvous point.

“This is Darren of the Iron Heart, Starlite we have you on our scanner, switch over to the following local broadcast channel with following encryption, oh and welcome to the party.  
“Starlite here, acknowledged.” Crystal switched to the local com channel provided by the Iron Heart acknowledging the message.  
“We might want to make preparations for jump right away, we have been lingering here for a while, and we saw a couple of Emp Gunships in the jump lane heading to the station, the sooner we get out of here the better, especially if we want to avoid any attention from Empire authorities.” Darren Transmitted.  
“Starlite, Ryan loaded up most of the equipment stock from the station between the Iron Heart, Almost Heaven, and Wandering star so we should only have to make two trips, three tops.” Darren transmitted.  
“Sounds about, wait Where is Ryan then?” Crystal responded.  
“Betty from Almost Heaven here, Ryan received an emergency com when we were packing up shop. It sounded pretty urgent, he dropped everything and took off for sector 14. Said he would catch up as soon as he helps out a friend in trouble.” Missy sent with Jessie in the background yelling, “Tell Ryan he owes me big time for having to pick up his slack.”  
“You know he wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t important, quit your bitching, get a straw and suck it up you big baby.” Betty retorted releasing the com transmission button.  
“Let’s just focus on getting your equipment to 22. Ryan will be along for the second run I am sure.” Betty continued.  
“We should go, we should go right now, those gunships would have received a dock assignment and broadcasted their docking lane by now, I haven’t heard that, so they are still out there.” Said Ning, the Captain of the Wandering Star.  
“So, we haven’t done anything illegal.  
Why should we care about Empire Gunships, they come in and out of here all the time?” Crystal asked, curious as to why anyone who wasn’t a pirate of course, would be worried about Empire ships.

“Ning’s right. If they scan us, we have enough equipment to warrant an onboard inspection, and if that happens, you have about a 50/50 chance of either an official Empire fee(bribe) to keep them from impounding your ship, or they just outright “repossess” all assets in the name of unlevied taxes or any other reason they come up with.” Betty answered followed by a chorus from all Three ships “FOR THE GOOD OF THE EMPIRE.”  
After a fit of laughter Ning spooled up Wandering Star’s drive not wanting to wait any longer but sent a quick com “See you at 22.”  
The rest of the ships quickly followed suit.

IAS Agency HQ Observer wing, office of Chris Birger  
Observer Chris Birger had reviewed all the files and reports associated with ID 2326274-511 several times, then reviewed them again. Nothing stood out to him that would warrant any level of attention from Empire authorities, nothing other than the fact that he had a wide network of contacts some of which could be considered persons of interest.  
Why would central put such a high priority on you Ashe?  
Damn it, it is my job to justify the cost of tracking you down, even if I don’t agree with you being a threat to the empire, and it is unlikely you would become a cost-effective asset, your profile doesn’t match someone who would accept Empire authority.  
Frustrated that he could not put more together from the dossier, Chris made up his mind to track down this pilot himself and find out who he really was.  
With such a large network of contacts maybe I can appeal to his sense of the common good for all, instead of an authoritative approach, just maybe he can be of use and the Empire will become the greater for it.  
“Central prep an Observer cruiser, I will be departing for sector 14 to follow up on a lead.” Chris spoke into his com.  
“Acknowledged Observer Birger.” came the reply immediately.

Seeker Staging area Central Headquarters

“Seeker Lane, As requested this is a notification that observer Birger submitted a navigation route to Central. Observer Birger has locked in a route to sector 14 and will be departing as soon as his cruiser is ready.” Reported Seeker Lane’s Cyber specialist.  
“Excellent, prep the team’s gunship for stealth ops, we are going to Sector 14.


	7. Rescue

Sector 14 Planet Koch residential zone Aboard the Aurora 1 approaching Building 101B

“Aurora 1, This is Ashe, Jason, and Brynn we are hole up in the attic. I don’t think we are going to be able to avoid the gass. Thanks for the rescue.” Ashes com broadcast through Aurora 1’s intercom.

“Yeeaaaaaah, go to sleep, go to sleep.” Chief said to the monitor as he watched images of people dropping on the full spectrum scan of the building.

“Damn it Chief there you go again hoggin all my targets.” Alanzo(Gunmate) said in mock annoyance, but admiring Chief’s handiwork.  
“I am going to have to put us down at the intersection, putting us approximately 50 meters from our target. How’s the situation look?” Ben asked via ship’s intercom.  
“Monitoring the structure, No movement. NAPS FOR EVERYONE.” Chief replied laughing maniacally.  
“alright, we are all going to have to deploy, you heard the guy, there are three of them in there, I guess this is a literal pick up now.” Ben said with a little worry seeping through his voice.

“Thanks Chief, first you hog all the targets, now I got to do all the clean up and heavy lifting, again.” Gunmate said as he pushed Chief’s shoulder.  
“You get all the shit work, cause you suck. Quit your crying and secure the packages.” Chief teased.  
“Shut up!” Gunmate replied as he ran past Chief down the boarding ramp.  
Building 101B was in ruin, riddled with bullet holes almost structurally unsound.  
Gunmate burst though the door sending it flying from its hinges.  
“Front Entrance secure”. Gunmate reported, having scanned the entrance and all the blind spots in a split second.  
Once everyone was in the building Gunmate ran up the stairs at full speed with Chief covering his back, leaving Ben at the entrance to cover the escape route to Aurora 1.  
Reaching the top of the stairs Gunmate saw the make shift barricade put up by Jason.  
“Upstairs is secure but we have a bit of a problem, seems our friends put up a bit of a barricade so it may be a bit difficult to quickly extract them.” Gunmate reported over the com as he leaned over the stairs looking towards the front entrance, turning around he noticed Chief was nowhere to be seen.  
“What the hell Chief! Where did you go? There you go again running off, leaving me here to die. Here I am at the top of the stairs thinking I am covered, but noooooo, I am all by myself, again. You know what, my death is gonna be on you when someone sneaks up on me. Leaving me up here, I could get killed you ass.” Gunmate complained over group com.  
“Everyone in the building is asleep man, you’ll be fine. I’m working on something.” Chief casually replied.  
“Gunmate’s right Chief, we can’t afford to leave a team member, that can easily get one of us killed.” Ben retorted.  
“So will overstaying our welcome, so why don’t you go upstairs and babysit Gunmate, I’m busy.” Chief replied annoyed and not allowing any more discussion.  
Precious minutes passed while Gunmate and Ben had cleared the barricade and retrieved the three strangers from the attic. Dragging each of them down the hallway to the top of the stairs.  
Looking down the stairs Ben noticed a gurney was waiting for them.  
“That will definitely speed things up quite a bit thanks Chief” Ben said over com looking around still wondering where Chief was.  
Having loaded the new passengers on the gurney one by one Gunmate could no longer hold his tongue about Chief absence.  
“Chief where the hell have you been, I about threw my back out lifting.” Was all Gunmate got out before he was interrupted.  
“THAT’S far enough.” Ethan yelled aiming the blaster back and forth between Gunmate and Ben.  
Noticing he got both their attention and hands raised he continued.  
“Now tell your partn.” CRACK.  
Ethan’s head was flung back hard, body flying forward to the ground, he sprawled on the floor in front of Ben and Gunmate with Chief landing knee square on Ethan’s back. Rifle raised Chief got in a bash to the back of Ethan’s head.

“A little late.” Gunmate stated annoyed.

“I was busy.” Chief replied.  
“SITREP. Are we clear to the ship or should we expect any more surprises?” Ben asked.  
“I got everyone else’s hands and feet bound and weapons removed. All except this asshole right here.  
I dropped motion sensors throughout the building while tied everyone one up, just to be safe.  
I saw the motion sensor trip when this guy started to move.  
Not wanting to tip the guy off that I was on to him, I just went around pretending to scavenge closer to the back to either draw him back or so I can loop around either way getting the drop on him.  
We are good to the ship. Oh, and your welcome.”  
“Thanks, good work Chief.” Ben said impressed with his crew mate.  
“Piss off.” Gunmate said with indifference, then smiled shaking his head.

Reaching the cargo hold gurney loaded up with the three new passengers Gunmate ran smack into a pile of equipment strewn across the floor.  
“What the hell is all this?” Gunmate asked  
“New toys, man!” Chief replied surveying the weapons and medical supplies piled all over the floor.  
“By the gods, how many trips did you make while you left your post and put me in danger?” Gunmate asked accusingly, surprised by the size of the pile.  
“If you get killed it will be because you suck, and that’s not my fault.  
I had bound everyone’s hands and legs”  
Gunmate interrupted, “Yeah and YOU MISSED ONE!”  
“And, AAAAND I deployed motion sensors in each room so you were covered the whole time.  
I got in three trips before that prick woke up and tripped the alarm.  
I would have gotten in another trip or two if I didn’t have to put on a show for mr. soon to be having a really bad headache when he wakes up.” Chief said as he started to inventory the weapons.

“We had better Lock our passengers in the hold, Alanzo, sweep them for weapons and com devices just in case they wake up in a panic and try to do something stupid. Chief make sure the cargo hold is clear for our new guests, you can get to play with your new toys later.

Let’s stick to calling each other by our handles until we get to know our guests a little better, just to be on the safe side of things.” Ben said.  
“Aye aye Mountaineer.” Frank(Chief) and Alanzo(Gunmate) replied in unison.  
“Is anyone else hungry? I hear this place is known for it’s barbeque, lets get to a sponsored star port and get something to eat.” Ben said walking to the cockpit.

 

Sector 14 Planet Koch East City Star Port Office of Port Authority  
“Observer Birger welcome to Sector 14 and to Koch. I am Jason Maiz, the lead Protectorate overseeing planetary border regulations and Port security. What can we at the port authority do for you?” 

“There is a ship, the Catalyst511 That should have arrived recently, I need you to find it and make sure it does not leave, use discretion and respect, by no means is the pilot to be harmed.” Chris said flatly.  
“Of course. Right away observer.” Jason said already running a search on his data pad.  
“Locking down Bay 247 and dispatching protectors.” Jason said voice fading as he looked at the data pad intensely.  
“Observer, it would seem that ship is already under lockdown and Port Authority Security are already investigating an incident that occurred in that bay, looks like there was an attempted break in, and the initial report does indicate there was a casualty involved.”  
“Take me there immediately. Please copy the current incident report to my com id for review.”  
Chris said as they boarded the transport rail to East City star port.  
“Jason, I need for you to conduct an investigation on everyone who entered bay 247 since the Catalyst511 docked. Please provide me with full profiles on everyone involved, any known associates, and anyone they have publicly contacted in the past week by searching the K.O.E planetary facial recognition database I have authorized your access already.  
Time is of the essence, I need this information as soon as possible, how long do you think that will take you Jason?” Chis asked with sympathy knowing enormity of his request.  
“I’m, I’m not sure, it will all depend on the amount of hits from the facial recognition monitors.” Jason said with a slight stutter being overwhelmed by the task.  
“I will have an initial report within the hour, I will provide updates hourly as I continue my investigation. I will not fail you Observer Birger!”  
Jason said putting down his data pad and activating emersion mode on his holo glasses to better conduct his investigation.  
Chris was rattled by Jason’s statement. Debating whether or not to say something, I don’t want to be feared, this isn’t about failing me, this is for the whole of the empire, but seeing the Protector focused on his task he decided to stay quite and resolved the best way to serve Jason would be to reward him appropriately for his service when the mission is accomplished, and from the frustrated mumbled curses, it looked like he will have earned it.


End file.
